


Startling

by unwindmyself



Series: curious shapes shift in the dark [103]
Category: True Blood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, Gen, M/M, Party, Team as Family, agency and choices!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2015-09-19
Packaged: 2018-04-21 12:03:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4828439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unwindmyself/pseuds/unwindmyself
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Christmas party is interrupted by an uninvited and perplexing guest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Startling

**Author's Note:**

> Part five, "Peppermint Candy."
> 
>  **Original Characters** : Noël Beringer, Amarie Cambridge, Mallory Cambridge, Asra Amirmoez, seen Isi Hill, Rhys Averill, Devi Avninder, Antoine Henriques, Evelyn Winter, Mateo Cheng, Ghaliya Kazdaghli, Vanessa Quinones.

“Was this everything you were hoping?” Braelyn asks softly, nuzzling into Willa’s neck.

“Yeah, I think it was,” Willa murmurs.  “It’s not normal Christmas, but fuck normal, it’s nice.”

Right now, “it” is a veritable pile of them all flopped around the television watching _Mean Girls_ (“it counts as a Christmas movie, there’s Christmas stuff!” Danika defended).

Sam and Luna are cozied together in an armchair, seeming more at ease than they have in months.

Noël and Amarie are curled up in another chair, arms about each other’s waists.

Mallory and Nicole are seated on the floor beside these chairs while Lafayette and Isi paint their toenails.

Charlaine and Rhys are under one blanket and Devi and Adilyn under another, the latter pair possibly verging on snuggling, as they’re all crammed in on one sofa; Willa and Braelyn and Danika and Antoine are crammed under another larger blanket on the other sofa, the former pair definitely snuggling.

Jason is relaxing in another of the chairs with Sookie sitting on a pillow and leaning back against it.

Evelyn is perched on one of the dining table chairs, painting her own fingernails with the glow-in-the-dark novelty paint she got in the white elephant exchange.

Mateo is stretched out on his stomach on the floor, seeming remarkably comfortable even without pillows or blankets or any such thing.

The others’ absences are all too intimate to ask about and intimate enough to intuit: Pam and Tara made their escape the minute that presents and sap time finished (one of Tara’s presents to Pam was a large, pink, vintage silk scarf, and they were smirky enough that its purpose was clear, though the rest of the family silently debated which of them would be on the receiving end); Eric and Nora disappeared after whispering something to Jessica and she disappeared ten minutes after them; Amber and Vanessa, after getting increasingly handsy all night, disappeared into the former office to make out (Nicole calling a “make good choices” after them); Asra and Ghaliya took their own making out upstairs, only barely managing to get behind closed doors before they got undressed.

No, it’s not normal in the slightest, but it suits them.

“Thank you for the party,” Mallory calls, grinning at Willa in a crinkly-eyed way that also means god, you’re adorable with your girlfriend, I’m both jealous and happy.

“It turned out like magic,” Adilyn agrees, leaning against Devi’s shoulder.

“Thanks,” Willa says sheepishly.  “I’m pretty proud of it, I bet Jess is too.”

Everyone sinks into the moment and the furniture, some sipping their drink of choice (shared bottles of O+ or O- for the vampires, cheap beer or Smirnoff Ice for the above-21 crowd, berry-flavored water for the babies), and it seems like they’ll actually get to stay in this peace for the whole movie when there comes an almost violent rapping at the door.

“Did you invite someone else?” Amarie asks Willa, making a face.

“Huh-uh,” Willa says with concern.  “I’m gonna…” She rises from her seat, wincing apologetically at Braelyn.

“I’ll go with,” says Noël, his frown explaining that he thinks such a thing might be needed.

They step into the foyer and Willa looks through the peephole.  The culprit appears to have been a slightly stocky white fellow whose expression reads just a little too innocent.

“Who is it?” Noël asks.

Willa shrugs.  “I’m not sure,” she whispers, her brow furrowed.

“I can hear that someone is home,” the stranger calls in some hybrid British-Australian accent.

Noël squints through at the stranger.  “Might be human, might not be,” he mouths.  “Can’t tell.”

“Shit,” Willa whispers, dashing up the stairs.

“What’s goin’ on?” Jason asks, wandering out of the parlor.

Noël holds a finger to his lips.  “Not sure,” he whispers.  “Chill a minute.”

 

* * *

 

Willa throws the door to the spare bedroom open, too frantic to think it through, and is met with groans from Pam (currently laid out between Tara’s legs) and Tara (currently loosely tied to the headboard with that scarf).  “You better be kidding,” Pam deadpans.

“No, there’s shit goin’ on,” Willa exclaims.

“Fuckin’ catastrophic shit?” Tara asks wryly.

“I don’t know!” Willa shouts.  “There’s a dude outside and he knows we’re in here but we don’t know who he is and what the fuck!”

Pam sits up and hurriedly unties Tara’s wrists.  “How about you go bug Daddy while we make ourselves presentable?” she suggests.

“Fine,” Willa sighs.

As she turns to leave, she hears Pam mutter, “My money is on it havin’ to do with Sookie somehow.”

 

* * *

 

“Okay,” Jessica says, slipping out of her room and shutting the door (Eric and Nora are still dressing).  “What exactly is goin’ on?”

“Well, first, I’m sorry to interrupt you,” Willa says, as sincerely as possible.  “It’s just, there’s some guy at the door and he sounded like, he looks like, he could fuck some shit up, but we don’t know why or who he is or even what he is.”

“Huh,” Jessica mumbles, because that wasn’t what she was expecting at all.

Moments later, Eric and Nora appear.  “Perhaps you’ll recognize him from your bar,” Nora suggests to Eric, re-tying her hair ribbon.  (She has a slightly glazed-over look in her eyes that clues Willa in to what was going on, not that she’s going to say it.)

Asra and Ghaliya come stumbling out of the guest room, looking confused and annoyed.  “What on earth is going on?” Asra asks.

“Uninvited guest,” Eric says,” and he speeds down the stairs and to the door, where he relieves Noël with a sardonic salute. “I’ve got this,” he says.

“Whatever you say, boss,” Noël replies, stepping back.

“Good evening, sir!” Eric calls through the door.  “You’ll forgive us for hesitating to open our door to you, but times are strange and unfriendly, and we don’t know your intentions.

“Do not play games,” the stranger roars.  “I am called Warlow and I have come for my bride.”

“What the fuck?” Willa and Jessica exclaim in unison.


End file.
